Blueberry honey question

[Mud]

Was at the apiary today buying some orange blossom & talking to the owner. He informed me that bees do not produce honey from blueberries. He said he had just picked up his bees from a blueberry farm. They weighed 100# when he dropped them and 80# when he picked them up and that's pretty standard.

When I told him I'd seen it for sale he chuckled and said he used to sell clover by the ton to an apiary in Cape Cod who repacked and sold it as a cranberry varietal. He thinks that's the same thing that happens with blueberry.

Does anyone who knows about honey production have different experience?

 

[pwrose]

You can tell him to call me any day and I will prove other wise, we put over 200 hives on blueberries every year and that is the only thing around them. They come back from the blueberry pollination with at least one or two supers of honey made from the blueberries.

There isn't any law that says he can't sell any one kind of honey and label it something different. The ABF is trying to get that changed so that we follow what they call a "Florida Standard" for honey. But for now anyone who produces honey can sell it labeled anything they want and now law says they can not.

It does bother me that someone that owns an apiary would say that the bees do not produce honey from blueberries. That is like me saying that bees do not produce goldenrod honey, because down here in NC they are rarely ever seen on the goldenrod.

I must throw the BS flag on the blueberry honey production.

BTW here is my experience,
I grew up with my father being a commercial bee farmer, we presently have over 1000 hives and with me retiring from the US Coast Guard in Feb, I will be going to work in them full time. By this time next year we should be over 2000 hives. At the time of typing this there are currently only 2 commercial "Master Bee Keepers" in the state of NC (that I know of) my father just happens to be one of them.

 

[Mud]

Thanks pwrose. That's why I asked. Seemed like it would be pretty hard to pass that off if it was well known blueberries don't produce honey. Er, um, honeys don't produce bees of blueberries. You know what I mean!

By the way, do you do any online sales? I might be interested in buying some of the varietals you listed in another thread.

 

[Wade E]

Good info here, thanks for sharing. As long as we are on bees, how is the honey bee popultation doing? I know they were saying we had lost quite a few over the last fewyears, is this true and are they doing better as of recently?

 

[Dufresne11]

Geesh, I just popped in because I was thinking about brewing up some mead.... ..... I didn't think I would be getting a lesson in bee hive management... its a nice little place we have here... lots of info

 

[pwrose]

There are alot of unanswered questions surrounding the CCD (colony colapse disease). Many biologist have varied opinions on what causes CCD, and many bee keepers have thiers.

We went into winter with a little over 500 hives and came out of winter with only 130. Since Jan. we have gone from 130 to over 1000. With any luck with two of us working we will be able to maintain the 1000+ and increase that to at least 1500 or more by Jan next year. However there is the CCD and other things that can kill them off.

Sorry went off on a slight tangent there,

As far as online sales, No at the current time.
Here is the thing about shipping honey, with its weight you are pushing the limits of the flat rate boxes to get enough to do any mead. If all you are after is honey for mead then you would do better to buy from a local bee keeper in bulk at wholesale. I don't mean to sound like I don't want to sale you any honey, but I would rather save you some money. Now if you are really after some of the different types of NC honey then I can ship some out whenever the type you want is in season. Right now the Clary Sage is just about done, but I dont know how much we will actually pull off because we are trying to expand and need all the extra honey for splitting up the hives. Ok another tangent, I'll let it be for now if you have any more questions feel free to ask.

 

[myakkagldwngr]

PW,, you get my big thumbs up approval..

Being honest and saying that you'd be better off getting it local if you can instead of paying for the extra shipping is not what most people would do.
But then I can see you fall into that category, not like most the people.

We need more honesty in our world and lives today.

My brother and i dabbled in bees back in my farming days. Ended up with 25 or 30 hives on a trailer we pulled around the farm for pollination.
I miss the old days of getting stung and not even really noticing it.
Do you put yours out much for pollinating crops?

 

[pwrose]

That is what we do primarily, I say we but mostly that is my dads business. I most just raise queens, and work for him. What a boss huh,,, LOL

 

[Wade E]

This is a very interesting subject of which I know absolutely nothing and dont plan on doing any bee keeping but still very interested in learning just to know so keep on keeping on!

 

[Mud]

I agree that local is better. It's just that not much is available here. Thanks anyway.

 

[pwrose]

If you want some I will send it out, I am not against doing it, just trying to make it better on you. How much would you be interested in? Right now the only honey we have is the stuff that the bee supposedly don't make, LOL, blueberry. It is a lighter colored honey but not as light colored as the Sage or the tupleo.

Let me know I will try to take care of you the best I can.

 

[e-wine]

My dad's in Ohio and the last three times I talked with him, he mentioned I should manage some hives for the honey. He really enjoys it. My big concern is the killer bees. Based on the map I saw this winter, they are well into the heart of Texas. Interestingly, they hitch-hike on RVs and trailers and are moving up along the interstates. I had some bees move into an RV trailer last year and I had to get rid of them. I don't know if they were the killer bee type since I never had them analysed. After what I learned this winter, I wish I had.

e-wine